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Editor’s note: This is the part of an ongoing series of articles from communicators who have earned their Accreditation in Public Relations, describing what lead them to become accredited and what the accreditation experience was like for them.

There are a few public relations professionals out there who claim that the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) is no longer relevant to the modern practice of public relations. My response? These individuals have clearly not explored the process or fully understand what it takes to earn Accreditation or practice as an APR.

While there might be one or two things that always could be updated about the content of the study guide and the Examination for Accreditation in Public Relations questions to better reflect current events, the foundation of strategic planning does not change.

Editor’s note: This is the part of an ongoing series of articles from communicators who have earned their Accreditation in Public Relations, describing what lead them to become accredited and what the accreditation experience was like for them.

Have you heard that? Thought it? Said it? All of the above? We have too. “We” being the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB); and we have begun the very lengthy process to significantly update the Examination to ensure that all questions are current, relevant to the profession, accurate and valid. I’ll walk you through the process of how we are doing that, but first let me dispel the misconception that the Examination hasn’t been updated in years. We actually update the Examination in small ways throughout the year. More on that in a minute.

Let me start with the framework for the questions. We have a document called the blueprint. The blueprint lists each of the KSAs — the areas of knowledge, skills and abilities — that a candidate needs to successfully pass the Examination. And each of the KSAs has specific learning objectives — specific statements about what we are going to ask a candidate in this area.

For example, under the current KSA of Researching, Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Programs (RPIE), one of the learning objectives is Audience Identification and Communication. What we are trying to determine here is if the candidate can identify appropriate audiences and the opinions, beliefs, attitudes, cultures and values of each, and if the candidate can prioritize and properly sequence communications to different audiences.

Under the current KSA of Ethics and Law, one of the learning objectives is Integrity. Here the questions are going to be written to determine if the candidate recognizes and deals professionally with ethical and legal issues.

The current blueprint has 10 KSAs and a total of 43 objectives. Each objective has approximately three to five questions on the Examination. The proposed changes reduce the number of KSAs to six, and once approved, the number of objectives also could be reduced; however, the number of questions on the Examination will fluctuate very little, if at all.

This is a preview of Demystifying The APR Exam: From Blueprint To Publication. Read the full post

As a lawyer and consultant, I have been engaged in some form of what I now know as public relations for more than 20 years; it was just never called public relations. It was alternatively referred to as public affairs, public information or public participation. And although I had real-world experience, I had no formal training in such topics as communication theory, models or history. Nonetheless, in May 2013, when two APRs in our firm held a session to introduce Accreditation, I was intrigued. A week later I was in a Jump Start class.

As a self-proclaimed “old-school” public relations strategist for more than 13 years, I found myself becoming concerned that the integrity, credibility and prestige of the communications field might be waning. Without a way to measure expertise, how could true strategists separate ourselves in the field?

But once I began, it was stimulating to delve deeply into the theories and methods we use every day. Frankly, it renewed my passion and excitement for communications strategies. I was excited to realize that I use RPIE — research, planning, implementation and evaluation — habitually in my practice and that the core competencies lead my decision making. Plus, I learned new concepts that have made me a better professional and enabled me to perform my job at a higher level.

My best advice is: There is no time like the present. Sure, studying for the APR is time-consuming. The process can at times be overwhelming. And it is intimidating to think about what you might not remember — or even worse — not know. But in the end, it is absolutely worth pushing past these and other negative thoughts.

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